Annie Bell's Rustic Roast Garlic Chicken

You will need a roasting dish that will hold the chicken with a little room to spare around it. Preheat the oven to 210C/190C fan/410F/gas 6½.

Spread two thirds of the thyme sprigs over the base of the roasting dish. Pull half the thyme leaves off the remaining sprigs and scatter over the chicken with the sprigs.
Pop the lemon halves cut-side up at either end of the bird. Dot the chicken and lemon with the butter, then season and roast for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut the tops off the garlic bulbs, leaving them whole. When 20 minutes are up, sit the garlic around the chicken, baste everything with the juices and roast for another 20 minutes. Baste again, pour the wine into the base of the dish and roast for another 10 minutes.

Transfer the chicken and garlic to a warm plate to rest for 15 minutes, tipping any juices inside the bird back into the roasting pan.

Discard the lemon, skim the fat off the juices in the pan, add a few tbsp water and the crème fraîche and simmer for a minute or two.

Carve the chicken, adding any juices to the gravy, and serve with the garlic. Squeeze the garlic cloves from their skins as you eat.